The Lamenters er en udendørs, steds-responsiv performance, hvor fem performere undersøger grådedans som en kollektiv, kropslig praksis.
Gennem dybt kropsligt forankrede ritualer udfolder hver performer sin egen lament - en personlig klagesang omsat til bevægelse, hvor kroppen fungerer som et resonansrum for transformation. Gråd fremstilles her ikke som klage eller svaghed, men som en åbning: et fælles rum, hvor sårbarhed vidnes, forstærkes og får lov til at skabe nye forbindelser.Med afsæt i historiske lament-traditioner, hvor sang og ritual har været brugt til at udtrykke sorg, længsel, taknemmelighed og omsorg, revitaliserer The Lamenters genren som et fysisk og sanseligt sprog, der rækker ud over ordene. Her bliver tårer en forbindende kraft mellem det individuelle og det kollektive og aktiverer en delt kropslig resonans mellem performere og publikum.
Forestillingens kunstneriske materiale udspringer af praksissen med at synge klagesange, som danner afsæt for udviklingen af forestillingens stemmearbejde, bevægelsesmateriale, billedverden og relationelle dynamikker. Praksissen undersøger, hvordan vi forholder os til de forandringer, der former vores liv - både dem, vi aktivt søger, og dem, vi ikke selv har valgt. Når gråden deles og bæres af gruppen, bliver den mere end et individuelt udtryk. Den bliver et fælles resonansbund for de forandringer, vi gennemlever.
The Lamenters er udviklet specifikt til Karens Minde Aksen, fordi stedets særlige landskabelige og infrastrukturelle logik spejler forestillingens tematiske undersøgelse af gråd, klage og følelsesmæssige strømninger. Karens Minde Aksen er et landskab designet til at modtage, lede og tilbageholde overskudsvand; vandet er ikke noget, der skal skjules eller kontrolleres, men noget der gives plads til. Denne bevægelseslogik er central for værket. I The Lamenters forstås tårer og gråd ikke som tegn på svaghed eller sammenbrud, men som nødvendige og kropsligt vidende responser, der kræver rum for at kunne bevæge sig. Ligesom regnvandet finder nye veje gennem aksens terræn, insisterer gråden på sin egen bevægelse og overskrider grænserne mellem det private og det kollektive. Ved at placere forestillingen i dette landskab skabes en konkret resonans mellem krop, stemme og omgivelser, hvor stedet ikke blot er ramme, men aktiv medspiller i værkets undersøgelse af sorg, forbindelse og fælles sårbarhed.Publikum inviteres til at opleve forestillingen på deres egne præmisser. Publikum kan bevæge sig frit gennem rummet, følge en bestemt performer, skifte opmærksomhed mellem det individuelle og det kollektive, komme tæt på intime øjeblikke eller træde tilbage for at få overblik over den samlede komposition. På den måde skaber hver publikummer sin egen vej gennem værket og sin egen oplevelse af nærhed, opmærksomhed og resonans.
The Lamenters er et poetisk og politisk gruppeværk om at vidne hinanden i tårer - og om det forandringspotentiale, der opstår, når det, som bryder frem, får lov til at blive set, delt og båret i fællesskab.
The Lamenters is an outdoor, site-responsive performance in which five performers explore crying dances as a collective, embodied practice.
Through intimate and physical rituals, each performer unfolds their own lament - a personal dirge translated into movement, where the body becomes a resonant space for transformation. Crying is not presented as complaint or weakness, but as an opening: a shared space where vulnerability is witnessed, amplified and allowed to create new forms of connection.
Drawing on historical lament traditions, where song and ritual were used to express sorrow, longing, gratitude and care, The Lamenters revitalises the genre as a physical and sensory language that reaches beyond words. Here, tears become a connective force between the individual and the collective, activating a shared bodily resonance between performers and audience.
All artistic material is developed through the practice of singing laments. Voice work, movement, imagery and performer relationships emerge from a continuous negotiation between individual and collective experiences of change. The practice explores how we respond to transitions in life - both those we long for and those imposed upon us. As personal cries resonate within the group, grief reveals itself not as an individual condition, but as a shared response to the transformations that shape our lives.
The Lamenters has been developed specifically for Karens Minde Aksen, as the site’s unique landscape and infrastructural logic reflect the performance’s exploration of crying, lamentation and emotional flows. Karens Minde Aksen is a landscape designed to receive, channel, and retain excess water; water is not treated as something to be hidden or controlled, but as a force that is given space to move. This logic of movement is central to the work. In The Lamenters, tears and crying are understood not as signs of weakness or breakdown, but as necessary and embodied forms of knowing that require space in order to unfold. Just as rainwater finds new pathways through the terrain of the Karens Minde Aksen, crying insists on its own movement, crossing the boundaries between the private and the collective. By situating the performance within this landscape, a tangible resonance is created between body, voice, and environment. The site functions not merely as a setting, but as an active collaborator in the work’s exploration of grief, connection, and shared vulnerability.
The audience is invited to encounter the performance on their own terms. Rather than being assigned a fixed position, spectators are free to move through the space, follow a particular performer, shiftheir attention between individual and collective actions, come close to moments of intimacy, or step back to gain an overview of the larger composition. In this way, each audience member constructs their own trajectory through the work, creating a unique experience of proximity, attention, and resonance.
The Lamenters is a poetic and political ensemble work about witnessing one another in tears - and about the potential for change that emerges when we allow what is breaking through to be seen, shared, and carried together.
Spilletid / When
kl. 18.45
Sted / Where
Varighed / Duration
2 timer
Sprog / Language
Engelsk
Koncept og koreograf / Idea and choreographer
Antoinette Helbing
Skabt af og med / Created and performed by
Max Wallmeier, Tomáš Janypka, Beck Heiberg, Sigrid Stigsdatter Mattiasen & Antoinette Helbing
Lament-coach / Lament-coach
Tuomas Rounakari
Komponist / composer
Emil V. Kristensen
Kostumedesigner / Costume designer
Inbal Lieblich
Dramaturg / Dramaturg
Mirko Guido
Producent / Producer
Lenka Vořechovská
